Shattered Memories
by JustAnAfterthought
Summary: Hermione loses her memory and Draco finds this the opportune moment for him to plant revenge. But will it backfire on him?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** characters, objects, fictional places and everything else that are so obviously not mine are all from JK Rowling's Harry Potter (except for other places that don't sound familiar and sounds made-up, then I'd be solely responsible for it – especially if it sounds ridiculous). Storyline isn't completely mine, I have to say. I was inspired by Elizabeth Winfrey's novella entitled 'My So-Called Boyfriend' and even borrowed a few passages off it. (I reiterate, _a few_ – not a lot)

**Note:** [UPDATED September 22, 2007 I know that not most people read author's notes and such, so I'll try to make this short and simple. I just recently updated this story and made some changes, seeing as this was once a Mary-Sue fic (I'm ashamed to say). Title names may not be suitable to the chapter any longer; I'll most probably just delete them sometime along the way. Also, this is sort of a continuation of Book Four. This is what happens to them over the summer. If you're not much for details, this is just the part where Hermione gets knocked out. Go over to the next part for Draco's arrival. And lastly, I really hope you like this story. And don't forget to leave a review! (Not really forcing you to, but you know, just if you want to, I'd love to hear what you have to say)

--

**Prologue**

_-Platform Nine and Three Quarters-_

Hermione went out of the school train, ready to begin her summer. She pushed her trolley over to her parents who were waiting for her beyond the barrier.

"Hi mum! Dad!" she greeted them once she neared her parents.

"Hermione!" Mrs Granger said happily, waving her left arm.

"Hullo dear," Mr Granger said softly. Something in his eye showed discomfort.

"What is it dad?" Hermione asked, sensing that something was up.

"Uh, Hermione dear," Mr Granger began. "Your mother and I have some bad news for you. We have a dental convention to attend to in Ireland, and I'm afraid we won't be able to spend the summer together."

"As much as we would want to take you with us, Mr Shepherd (the boss), hasn't permitted us to," Mrs Granger continued. "I'm sorry love. You could stay over at your Aunt Clarisse if you want."

Hermione shuddered at the thought of being with her Aunt Clarisse and her five bratty cousins over the summer and shook her head no.

"Your not mad are you Hermione?" Mr Granger asked, chuckling weakly. "We'll bring back a giant tooth from the convention for you."

Hermione pouted. "I already have one. And a clock shaped tooth, and a load of toothbrushes. Maybe I could just stay over at Ron's place for the summer. That would be much better."

"Alright," Mrs Granger said agreeably, as not to make Hermione feel sad.

"Well, bye then," Hermione said, giving each parent a final hug then left to look for Ron. But she forgot her trolley with her parents and remembered that she needed it for her change of clothes.

She ran back quickly, in hopes to still reach her parents. But she was running so fast, she wasn't able to pay attention to where she was going.

And seemingly out of nowhere, three steps appeared before her. She leapt across them, determined not to waste a second. But just before her feet hit the floor, her heels grazed the bottom step.

For a moment, everything went slow motion, then fast-forward. Hermione lost her balance and fell; it was just powerless to stop her fall.

From somewhere far away, she heard a loud crack as her head hit the hard floor. Her world slipped away as the view of the grimy, grey linoleum was replaced by a roaring, blank darkness...


	2. Chapter 1

**Note**: Please remember that this is a continuation of Book 4. If you forgot what happened in the end, Draco (and Crabbe and Goyle) were hexed by probably everyone in the compartment. Also, I use the term 'mudblood' here instead of muggle-born witch, simply because I feel that this is coming from Draco's thoughts and that he would consider her a mudblood.

**  
Chapter One**

Draco Malfoy was the last person to get off the Hogwarts Express, because of the fact that he lay unconscious for a long time. (Who wouldn't, after being hexed by the Furnuculus Curse and the Jelly Legs?) He was still covered with hex marks and was muttering curse words to Harry and Ron.

He trudged over one of the huge EXIT signs while pushing his trolley. About five feet from him lay an unconscious body of a girl with a wild mop of sandy blonde hair wearing muggle clothes.

When he came closer, his mouth gaped open. Lying on the dirty floor of Platform Nine and Three Quarters was Hermione Granger. He glanced around waiting for Harry to appear, or the mudblood's boyfriend – Ronald Weasley - to be lurking around.

Since the place was isolated and no one was there to help her, he kneeled down on her side and checked to see if there was still a pulse. There still was. _Unfortunately_, Draco thought to himself with a silent snigger.

Without her nose buried in books, or her eyes shooting lethal daggers at him, she looked almost like an innocent, young child. His heart strangely squeezed painfully as he picked up her hand (which felt surprisingly - for him that is - smooth) and whispered her name.

"Hermione?" he called.

"Oy, Hermione, wake up! Or I'll.. I'll beat the crap out of you!" Draco yelled, then sighed and shook his head.

"I better bring her to some muggle hospital," Draco muttered.

At that moment, Hermione's eyes popped open. "Who's going to the hospital?" she shouted loudly.

Draco looked at her in surprise; she wouldn't wake up when he threatened her with violence. But just the sound of 'hospital' shot her up quickly. "You are," he said, answering her question. "You got knocked unco-"

"Who are you?" she demanded, cutting him off.

Typical, he thought. The girl was so high on herself, she couldn't remember the guy she and her muggle-loving friends hexed a while back in the train. But she was lying on dirty floor, he had to have _some_ sympathy.

"Draco Malfoy," he said.

"Oh," Hermione said, her face expressionless. "Who am I?"

"WHAT?!" Draco asked, purely shocked.

She sat up and pushed her hair away from her face. "Who am I?" she repeated, looking absolutely clueless.

"Hermione Granger, now just sit tight and wait for the rapamedics," he said, struggling to calm her down and obviously not knowing the right term for paramedic.

She glared at him - the first real sign of the girl he knew and hated. "I'm not going to any hospital," she said stubbornly, then threw her body to him, begging him to bring her home.

"What?" he asked, startled that this muggle-born witch, no, this _mudblood_, would dare demand such a thing. But the better part of him knew he had to do something about her. He may detest her and her kind but who is he kidding? He couldn't leave her to fend for herself. Especially in her obvious state of obliviousness. He did have a heart – contrary to popular belief.

"Alright," Draco said giving in, pulling Hermione to his side and caught a whiff of Hermione's lavender scented shampoo. "You could have one of our family healers take a look at you." He agreed to this, knowing that he was the only one there to care for her, he does have a heart after all. It would be alright for her to spend a night at the Malfoy Manor since Lucius was at Romania serving the Dark Lord and Narcissa was in Monaco, socialising with Princess Caroline and her family, who were of wizarding blood as well.

"Okay," Hermione said, lacing her fingers with Draco's and headed over the barrier (with Draco's trolley) to a sleek black Porsche that awaited them.

When they got settled in the car, Hermione clutched Draco's hand and said:

"Thanks for being here for me Draco, I'm so lucky to have you."

Draco then realised that Hermione assumed that he was her boyfriend. The whole misconception was tantalising.

REVENGE. The word stuck on his mind as he squeezed Hermione's hand. He could finally get back at the way the mudblood treated him for four years. He had no doubt that she would eventually remember who she was, along with her entire past. And when she did, the look on her face would make for an award-winning photograph. Draco smiled viciously to himself.

Hermione Granger has lost her memory alright, and he was determined to give her an experience she'll NEVER forget!


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two **

It had been a long ride from the train station to the Malfoy Manor, and Hermione had fallen asleep on Draco's shoulders when the car screeched to a halt.

_She looks slightly cute when she's asleep,_ Draco thought. _Almost angelic, too bad she's a muggle – what the?! What the hell are you thinking of Draco?_

"Hey, wake up," Draco half shouted at Hermione, nudging her roughly to wake her up.

Hermione slowly flicked her eyes open and wondered where she was. Then she saw Draco's (rather handsome) face, realising that she was in his car, heading to his house.

"C'mon," Draco grunted, shoving her out of his numb shoulder.

"What a way to treat your girlfriend," Hermione mumbled, stretching from the position she was in.

_Oh yeah,_ Draco thought, remembering that he was Hermione's '_boyfriend'_. "Sorry," he apologised, then took Hermione's hand, albeit with utmost disgust, and climbed out of the car.

Hermione was awed when got a glimpse of the manor. It was grand (to say the least). It was a manor bordering on palace on a vast expanse of land complete with a moat and a drawbridge and a gorgeous garden with a colourful variety of flowers decorating it perfectly. The landscape was breathtaking and looked rather inviting.

About half a dozen house-elves flocked around them and started taking their coats and luggage whilst an elderly elf wearing a pristine tea cosy said, "welcome back Master, is you want a cuppa?"

"Would one of you get a healer?" he barked.

And almost immediately, a house elf scurried out of the room to fetch a healer.

"C'mon," Draco muttered, leading the way to a guest room. Hermione followed, grabbing Draco's arm and hugged it, resting her head on his shoulder. Draco just rolled his eyes in annoyance but remained quiet.

Draco showed Hermione to the guest room, immaculate in grandeur and extravagant in design with a huge king-sized bed in between two long windows that reached the ceiling and draped with golden yellow curtains and a wardrobe taller and bigger than the two of them combined and a settee on one side of the room across a large mahogany desk with a matching swivel mahogany chair and told her that if she needed him, his room was on the east wing of the manor. Hermione grew much more confused at this moment. She wondered why her boyfriend acting so distant and cold?

Shortly after Draco left, a plump, kind-faced healer came in to aid Hermione. The healer held her head between two strong hands and poked and prodded, but gently.

"It's nothing too severe," the healer declared. "Head injuries often cause trauma that blocks either short-term or long term memory. Your problem is long term."

"Does that mean it'll be gone for a long time?" Hermione asked nervously and imagined herself living a long life and then suddenly at the age of a hundred, she'd remember that she'd been an axe murderer or that she left a stove on somewhere.

The healer shook her head with a smile. "No, it just means that you can't remember what happened before this incident. If you had short-term loss, then you wouldn't know what had happened five minutes ago. For instance, if you ask what time it is, you'll keep repeating the same question every five minutes or so."

This calmed her down a bit. The healer then left Hermione to her own devices as to how she would entertain herself, hoping that Draco would come in sometime soon. He was quite handsome and congratulated herself on finding herself a boyfriend as fit as he is.

Hours dragged on for Hermione, she explored her room and played dress-up with the extravagant robes she found in the huge walk-in closet. After she was through with a thousand dress robes, she got bored and decided to go to Draco for a little chat.

_I must be mad; I can't believe that I just invited a mudblood in my house. Good thing father and mother aren't here at the moment. I wonder what their reaction would be if they saw a muggle stepping in our house. But she is beautiful, if only she would stay away from the dynamic duo_ _and wasn't a muggle born witch, I probably would have liked her. Asked her out on a date, even._

_What am I thinking?_ Draco scolded himself. _This is Granger I'm talking about. The know-it-all mudblood that gets on my nerves every damn day._

_But she's beautiful smart, and a whole lot sexier lately, _a tiny voice in his head said.

He shook his head in frustration. _I __**can't **__be falling for a mudblood, no fucking way! _He closed his eyes and tried to steady himself. Seconds later, he drifted off to sleep, exhausted by the ride home and the many hexes he received.

-

Draco had kissed Hermione softly on the lips, once, then twice. Then more, probing harder with each kiss. He pushed her roughly on the cold, hard wall, still kissing her. His hand crawled up to Hermione's stomach, grazing around it. He pushed Hermione's shirt up and masseaged her flat, bare stomach, loving every minute of it (not me, I'm jealous!). his hand went up higher ---

He jolted up from his chair, completely surprised at his dream. _What was that about?_ He thought, feeling cold sweat popping out of his forehead. At that moment, a soft knock sounded on his door, making him jump slightly.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

The knocking continued, much to Draco's irritation. "Who is it?" he snarled.

"It's me, Hermione," a small voice answered.

Draco clenched his fist and made a face. This wasn't a good time for him to see Hermione, he was still too mixed-up.

"Come in," he yelled in response.

"What?" he snarled, turning his chair around to face her. _Huge_mistake. His heart pounded quickly and his jaw slightly unhinged as he saw the sight of Hermione who was dressed in one of the dress robes she found in the closet. It was scarlet with intricate designs on it and sealed slightly above below her chest, showing some cleavage.

"Whe-where d-d-did you get that robe?" Draco stammered.

"In the closet," answered Hermione, quite pleased at his reaction "I had nothing to do, so I played dress-up. Quite a cool bunch of costumes actually."

"I see," Draco said, calming down a bit. "Well what do you need?"

"Just want to talk to you, you know, to learn a little about me. Who I am and where I came from."

Draco groaned, not wanting to be pestered by Hermione's biography.

"And why your so cold and all," continued Hermione.

Draco gulped, quickly thinking of an acceptable excuse for his behaviour. "Ah… erm.. I was just scared about what would happen to you," Draco said cleverly. "I couldn't relax without knowing that you're going to be alright."

--

They sat in the parlour room, an impeccably well-thought out architecture that was covered with glowing swirls of gold on the wall that seemed to glower and move. Huge window panes perfectly placed in the east side of the room to let in the right amount of sunlight and the softest most comfortable couches set in the middle of the room and a marble coffee table set the centre stage topped off with a teapot and two steaming cups of tea and an enclave of all sorts of tea-time food imaginable: scones, crumpets, tea cakes, triangle-sliced cucumber and ham sandwiches.

"So what about me and my life? I want to know, I _need_ to know," Hermione prompted, sitting down daintily on the plump purple velvet sofa.

"Well, you're Hermione Granger, a witch," Draco started. _A witch with a 'B'_, he thought.

"A witch? Really?" Hermione asked in amusement but still doubtful.

"Yes, really," Draco said, groaning inwardly.

"And I expect that you're a wizard?" Hermione said with glee in her voice, thinking that Draco was toying with her.

"I am actually," Draco said.

Sensing that Hermione doubted him, he pulled out his wand from his pocket and swished it. With one simple spell, he had closed the door to the room and put on the fire and had off-white lace curtains drape themselves over the windows.

That got Hermione's attention. "So that explains the robes," she said after a while. "I thought it was reserved for Halloween or something."

After Draco managed to convince Hermione that she was indeed a witch, he continued on with the limited knowledge he had on about her life but left out the Harry and Ron chapter of her story. It would be murder on his part.

"And I am here with you because?" Hermione enquired.

"Because I asked you to stay for the summer holiday," Draco said quickly, saying the first thing that popped on his mind.

"And my parents agreed?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," Draco said firmly, then decided to add several words of conceit. "They happen to trust me very much, even if we've been dating for only three months. That's what happens when I save lives, I become very trustworthy."

_I have to remember to owl her parents one day_, Draco thought.

"So - " Hermione began, ready for another question. But Draco interrupted her before she got the sentence out.

"Look, I'll owl your best friend; she knows more than I do, maybe she'd be a lot better help than I would."

"Great!" Hermione brightly said. "Who's that?"

"Ginny Weasley," Draco said simply.

"I'd love to meet her," she said happily and intertwined her fingers around his and gave him a soft smile.

Draco looked down at their hands and back up to her smiling face. For some reason, it wasn't too bad. He gave her a slight squeeze and reached over for a scone.

--

The bump on Hermione's head was still tender and later that evening, she asked Draco to show her to her room again as she forgot the way seeing as the Manor was huge and had many twists and turns to it.

She followed him up the narrow dark wooden staircase that led to the west wing in the second floor, and he opened a dark stained wooden door that gave way to her bedroom. She still couldn't get over how gorgeous it was.

"Here you go," he said in a surprisingly softer tone than the one she got used to earlier that day. "The house-elves set several nightgowns on the bed, feel free to take your pick. There's an array of toothbrushes and toothpastes in the bathroom, choose whatever you want. There's also some analgesic potion in one of the drawers in the bathroom, to relieve you from the headache you probably have."

She smiled her thanks. But now that they were in front of her room in a dim hallway, she was suddenly overcome with shyness. She was alone with her boyfriend and they were sleeping under the same roof (albeit a _very_ large roof with little sub-roofs) yet to her they were almost strangers. Draco seemed to pick up on her discomfort and he laughed softly, but not in a mean way.

"I'll leave you now, Gra-Hermione," he said and gave a slow smile, closing in on her just a bit so they were almost nose to nose. "Sweet dreams."

And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away. She watched as he sauntered down the hallway, hands in his pockets, and disappeared into one of the many rooms the Manor had. She shut the door behind her and felt disappointed, expecting to be kissed.

She gave a sigh and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and look for the much-needed potion. Maybe by tomorrow things would be different. Maybe by tomorrow she would have regained her memory. After all, her best friend was coming for a visit.


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

That night, Draco decided to owl Ginny and asked her to come over to his house. He was almost finished writing his letter to her when he realised Ginny would be suspicious of him and would refuse to go to his house. He sat on the chair in his study, thinking up of ways to make Ginny visit him.

_All this work just for Granger_, Draco thought sourly. Then out of nowhere, Draco snapped his fingers and his eyes widened. Imagine, if you would, a light bulb popping out of thin air and floating above his head. _Eureka!_ He thought with a smirk, feeling rather pleased with himself.

At that moment, Draco wrote to Blaise Zabini, his only Slytherin friend with half a brain. He used Owie, his jet-fast African owl to deliver his letter to Blaise, asking him to meet him in front of the Malfoy Manor at midnight.

--

Ten minutes later, Blaise arrived wearing all black in front of the Malfoy Manor where Draco was waiting for him impatiently, clothed in all-black as well. Mischief was brewing.

"What took you so long?" he hissed to Blaise who jumped out of a brand new broomstick.

"I had to wait for my parents to sleep," Blaise hissed back. "Why do you want to do this anyway?"

"Long story," Draco replied airily and noticed the broom Blaise was holding. "Is that a new broom?"

"Yup," Blaise said, patting the dark green broom with his glove covered hand proudly. "Walis 007, it can switch into 10 different colours with just a push of a button, and the fastest racing broom ever made. Faster than Potter's Firebolt."

"Well, c'mon then," Draco said, trying not to show any sign of jealousy and climbed on in his broom, making a mental note to pester Lucius on getting him a far better broom.

--

The two flew into the star clad sky and headed for the Burrow. Once they reached the house, they stopped moving and instead, they hovered around each room, checking to see which one was Ginny's.

"Draco, over here," whispered Blaise. He was peeping into Ginny's window, watching her sleep peacefully. She was lying on her bed, her hair sprawled around her pillow.

_We probably shouldn't wake her_, Blaise thought.

"That's her?" asked Draco who went over to Blaise's side.

"Well, yeah," Blaise replied. "She's the only female Weasley and I would hope that none of her brothers would ever sport that hairstyle, it just won't do. You're father on the other hand…"

Draco sent him the look of death. "Let's get her now then," he said, pulling out a black pillowcase.

They quietly crept into her room, careful not to make any sound. Blaise put a hand over Ginny's mouth as Draco tried to slide the pillowcase over her head.

Ginny's eyes fluttered open and saw a pair of steely grey eyes looking back at her. "Mmph," she cried out, making a muffled sound. The eyes were the last thing she saw as the pillowcase successfully covered her face.

When they were out in the sky, Blaise immediately took off his mouth off Ginny's mouth that at once screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Would you shut her up?" Draco told Blaise. "She'll wake up the entire town."

"Ssh, Ginny, please don't shout," Blaise said gently. "Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise."

"How can I be sure of that?" she shrieked loudly. "When I find out who you are, my father -"

"Your father will what?" Draco asked angrily, nearing over to them. "Your father may be in the Ministry of Magic, but what's the use of having him work there seeing as he's clearly working in the wrong field? Misuse of Muggle Artefacts is not in any way linked to what were doing."

"Malfoy," Ginny whispered out, recognising the voice. She started wiggling around, wanting to get off.

"Stop it," Blaise said. He, too, started to get quite angry. Patience, after all, wasn't a virtue of any Slytherin. He was having trouble trying to control his broom and trying to keep Ginny in it at the same time. "Unless you plan to skydive a thousand feet off the ground without any safety gear on, I suggest you stay still."

Seeing that she couldn't escape, except for the death option she didn't even want to consider, she sat still in Blaise's arms, still shaking with fear, and remained silent for the rest of the ride to the Malfoy Manor.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

They reached the Malfoy Manor in a matter of minutes, but still a bit too early to be up. They were in the large garden when they took off the pillowcase that covered Ginny's face. She began to hit Malfoy in the chest wildly, demanding that he bring her back. Blaise tried to hold her back, but she turned around to face him, her eyes blazing with anger.

"You," she cried out, looking at Blaise directly at his hazel eyes, her index finger that pointed at him was shaking with rage. "What. Is. Your. Problem?!"

"Blimey Ginny! Aren't you a tad bit over reacting?" asked Blaise showing a little kindness as he secretly admired the girl. And not that he'd tell anyone, but the reason he hated Harry wasn't like Draco's hatred upon him. Rather, it was because Ginny had a liking for him.

"Over reacting? Am I over reacting?" Ginny yelled angrily. "You kidnap me from my own home, not to mention in a most indecent hour, cover my head with that smelly thing – Merlin only knows where the hell it's been to - and threaten me with death!"

"Hold on, we did not threaten you with murder or any kind of death related things," Blaise subjected.

"Oh no? Well flying me a thousand feet off the ground is a death threat to me," Ginny snapped.

"Look, all we need is your help," Draco said calmly.

"HAH! You expect help from me? You must be out of your mind," Ginny said, almost laughing. "After the lengths that you have gone through, almost causing me my grave, you ask for help? Well guess what? I'm not helping any."

"Can't we talk about it?" Draco asked.

"No," Ginny said stubbornly.

"Look, it concerns your friend, she needs you."

She snorted, someone turning Blaise off a little. 'Yeah, right."

Draco rolled his eyes. "It's true, Granger needs you."

"Why should I believe you?"

"Look, I swear upon my galleons – and you know that's saying _quite _a lot - Granger needs you."

She eyed him warily, deciding whether or not to believe him. Then finally sighed, he looked believable enough, for a Malfoy. "Alright."

--

"Explain," Ginny demanded, standing in front of Draco in his study.

Flicking his wand, Draco gave a silencing spell over Ginny as not to be interrupted in his little diatribe (which brought about a short physical violence from Ginny and a defending arm from Draco, pushing her head to keep her ravenous teeth and flailing arms at arms length until she finally gave up). He went on to tell her the entire story. Including the part where he led Hermione to believe that they were romantically involved.

"You've got guts Malfoy," said Ginny a few shorts hours after he was through and when the silencing spell was lifted. "Telling me everything that you've done. How could you be so sure that I won't tell anyone?"

Draco smirked. "Don't think I'm that stupid, Weasley. I'm not a trusting person as you easily assume I am. I just know that I can force people into doing things I want them to."

"Oh yeah? How's that?" Ginny challenged.

"I'm a Malfoy," said Draco with much pride and dignity. As though being a Malfoy would explain everything. When Ginny gave him a blank expression, he sighed and went on to explain. "We have our ways to make people do what we want. You for example, no one goes on with life without secrets, yes? Well my sources tell me that you have a lot of secrets, and I'm just dying to spill it out."

Ginny gulped wondering what he had on her. She did have a lot of secrets that were too dark and are meant to be hidden. Even from her family. But still, she stood strong. "Really? What is it?"

"I'll never tell." Draco said happily.

Ginny looked him directly in his eyes. "You don't have anything."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked. He met Ginny's eyes and gave her a long, hard stare saying he knew something. This made Ginny's palms sweaty, knees weak, arms heavy… she was fighting a losing battle.

Upon seeing her scared look, Draco smiled triumphantly. "Besides, if that's not enough to keep you from keeping your mouth shut; you won't be able to leave the Malfoy premises anyway. It's charmed to let only Mafoys and other certain people we so chose to go in and out so freely. You, unfortunately, are not part of the list. And trust me this one time, you wouldn't want to be caught leaving without me or any person on the list – its life threatening. So, ready to start negotiations?"

All Ginny could do was give in with a sigh.

--

The two (Draco and Ginny) walked to Hermione's room in silence.

"Come in," Hermione called, answering to their knock. "Hi," she said, smiling at the sight of Draco and gave Ginny a questioning glance.

Draco gave Hermione a small smile, trying hard not to scowl. "Gra - uh, Hermione. This is Ginny Weasley, your best friend. I think she could explain a lot more about yourself than I do."

"Hullo Ginny," Hermione greeted her.

"I'll see you later, okay?" Draco said. And just before he left the room, he whispered something to Ginny. "Leave out your brother and Potter out of your conversation. Or you won't ever escape this place."

Ginny glared a Draco's retreating back then gave Hermione a smile. "Hermione, hi. So, want to know more about yourself huh?"

Hermine nodded, prompting for Ginny to go on.

Hoo-boy, Ginny thought. This is a job for on or Harry, not me. "Let's see now."

**A/N:** By request, here's what my titles mean.

Chapter One: The Accident

Chapter Two: Revenge of the Dragon

Chapter Three: Confusion

Chapter Four: Developing


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

The two girls talked for hours. Ginny told Hermione everything she knew about her that she knew which wasn't a lot. She and Hermione may be friends, but they weren't as close as she as with Harry and Ron. The talked about where Hermione grew up, that she was pretty smart and much more. She did obligingly leave out the part about Ron and Harry. Nevertheless, Hermione absorbed every word, thirsty for information about her past.

_I wonder what time it is_, Ginny thought. _It's getting early and I'm afraid mum might skin me alive once I go back home. Darn that Malfoy, this is his entire fault._

"I'll always be grateful to Draco," Hermione said with a bright smile. "Without him, I'll probably be wandering around with no clue as to who I am."

Ginny groaned inwardly. Hermione should _not_ feel gratitude towards that slimy tosser. "This whole thing's has really changed you," she replied instead, trying to refrain anything that will taint Draco's name that Hermione apparently put up in a pedestal. "It's like losing your memory has taken off some layers of your personality."

"How so?" Hermione asked.

A knock interrupted them, and Blaise's head poked in. "Hey there Ginny, time to return back to the Burrow.

Hermione looked upset. "What? But she just got here."

"Don't worry, she'll be back son," Blaise assured her confidently.

--

Blaise and Ginny flew on his Walis 007 (he even changed the colour to red, in honour of Gryffindor) high up in the air. Ginny's arms were buckled around his waist for safety. Her head was rested on his back and her eyes were closed. Not that really enjoying the feeling of being with him. She had very little sleep that night and she was trying to catch some 'beauty' rest. But the two of them at that position was still sweet.

Ginny woke up with a nudge from Blaise once they reached the ground. "Oh no, were here," she groaned.

Blaise looked at her with disbelief. "I thought you'd be glad to be back. Though you're only staying for a while, Draco told me to bring you back."

"I'd be glad to be home, but not if I'm going to have to face my mother killing me. And why do I have to go back to the manor? I don't want to see Malfoy again."

Blaise put an arm around her and led her to the house. "Draco wanted, as he put it, a babysitter for Hermione. And as for your mother, leave that to me."

Surely enough, one step inside the house and Mrs Weasley, followed by Mr Weasley, was right away, in front of Ginny's face.

Mrs Weasley was now yelling at the top of her lungs. "Virginia Weasley! How dare you, are trying to imitate your brothers? Leaving so early, giving your father and me such a fright without asking permission and not even a note as to your whereabouts."

As Mrs Weasley continued to ramble about, George and Fred came tumbling in, with Ron on their trail at the sound of Mrs Weasley's raging voice. They apparently wanted to get in with the action.

Ginnny's face flushed a deep scarlet red hue. "Help," she whispered to Blaise.

At the call of her help, Blaise took out his wand and did a memory charm on the entire clan of Weasleys, except for Ginny of course.

Each Weasley earned a blank look and Mrs Weasley looked dazed. "Oh, hello Ginny. What are we all doing here? It seems a bit crowded in here."

"Hello Mrs Weasley," Blaise said since Ginny was speechless. "I came to fetch Ginny. She has a project with my sister Morgana for Potions. She'll probably stay with us for about a week or two. She has already asked your permission and I reckon you said yes, so here I am."

Mrs Weasley laid a hand on the white stair railing, still confused and dizzy because of the memory charm. "Oh, uh, yes. Of course, I did say yes didn't I?"

"Yes mother," Ginny lied.

"Very well then, off you go. See you in a week dear."

--

"You Obliviated my family?'" Ginny was yelling once they reached the pavement and out of her parents earshot, "I can't believe you did that."

"Well what would you have wanted me to do? Your mother was yelling, reaching a decibel I was not even aware a woman of her size could reach, and that was the only thing I could think of at the spur of the moment."

She shook her head in disbelief but kept silent anyway. Mixed emotions kept running through her. On the one hand, she was actually happy and excited, this was the first time she ever got away for lying (she was a horrible liar and without the help of the memory charm, she'd probably still be back home weeding out garden gnomes for punishment). But on the other hand, she was also guilty for lying to her parents, especially since this only served Malfoy's grand scheme.

"Anyway, hop on. We're off to the Malfoy Manor now."

Ginny groaned. "Do I have to?"

"C'mon, it's not that bad."

--


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

Back at the Malfoy Manor (much to Ginny's dismay and Hermione's delight), Ginny managed to force Draco into taking them out and buying them lunch because she figured she might as well make the most of her stay there. And since Draco's company isn't something she would want to make the most of, his buying them divine and very expensive meals would have to suffice.

They went to a fancy restaurant called Smorgasbord. It was a popular place for wizards who were rather well-off. And instead of having a carriage bring them, Hermione insisted on walking, saying she's been cooped up in the Manor for far too long and has been itching to take a look at the city without being enclosed inside four corners of the carriage. Draco grudgingly gave in. It wasn't that far anyway, his posh leather shoes can handle the walk.

But as they were walking down the pavement, swinging their intertwined hands between them, Draco was having a difficult time trying to convince himself that he didn't care. In fact, he had a difficult time convincing himself that he wouldn't jump off Big Ben/The Tower of London as soon as Hermione told him what a sad right git he was. She might even do the honours with a hard shove.

Ginny and Blaise were walking ahead of them, and oddly enough, Draco thought they looked more than civil to each other. Bordering on friendly.

Hermione seemed to pick up on his thoughts. "They look like they'd make a good couple, don't they? Blaise is the kind of guy that Ginny likes." She paused for a moment and frowned. "At least I think he is. I suppose I wouldn't really know."

"Blaise usually bounces from girl to girl," he said. "But I don't know what Ginny's effect on him is, it's rather odd actually. He actually looks to really like her."

"What about you?" Hermione asked quietly.

"What about me?"

"Do you bounce from girl to girl?"

"Yeah I do – " he started, then saw the look on her face. "I mean, I _used_ to, but that was before I met you." He gave her hand a soft squeeze for effect.

Hermione brought their hands up to her mouth, unlaced their fingers and put his palm against her lips. He gasped, feeling a spark shoot through his body at her soft kiss. He tried to restrain himself but to no avail. He had to kiss Hermione Granger right away or he'd explode. The fact that their relationship was a fake or that she had an unfortunate bloodline was all forgotten.

He pulled her hand and hid them behind one of the crisscrossing walls that lined the side of the pavement. She looked mildly surprised when he pushed her gently towards the wall, putting one arm on either side of her, effectively trapping her between him and the brick wall.

"Draco," she whispered. She tilted her head against the wall, gazing at him from beneath heavy lidded eyes.

He couldn't speak. Couldn't move. No matter what his beliefs and principles dictated to him, he just had to do it, there was no explanation why. Finally, he moved his mouth towards hers.

She whispered his name again. And an invitation.

Their lips met with the ease of those who have kissed each other countless times. The delicate curves of her mouth fit his as if its sole purpose was to join his. Electricity exploded inside him, raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

Hermione lifted her arms and put her hands around his neck, pressing him closer and the kiss deepened, the rest of the world dissolving into nothingness.

Heaven.

"What's keeping you guys?" Ginny called out, crashing them both back into reality.

"Oops," Hermione said with a giggle and composed herself, planting one more kiss on his mouth before she stepped out of his hold. "I'm glad we stopped for a while," she said, holding his hand once again and walking back to the two who were kept waiting.

"Sorry," Draco called out when they got closer to them. "Hermione had to, er, stop and tie her shoelace."

Blaise pointed at Hermiones slip-on espadrilles and rolled his eyes. "She doesn't even _have _shoelaces. You are one lousy liar, Malfoy."

_Don't remind me,_ he thought with a sinking feeling of doom.

"Onward!" Ginny said brightly, taking everything into stride. _Maybe there was more to Malfoy than meets the eye_, she thought.

Smorgasbord featured the best food of every nation known to mankind from Japanese to Indian to French but specialised in the Netherlands. It had the ordinary tables and booths, but it was magnificently lighted with extravagant chandeliers. There were portraits of old wizards who were known for their riches. One (that had a small gold plate with the etchings of Pontificus Blackwood 1804-1927 was counting the many gold coins he had in a table). The floor was a gleaming marble brown and it had quaint frosted windows, even in the midst of summer. The wizards (and witches) were dressed in expensive robes and had their noses up in the air, as was the norm in their culture.

"Monsieur Malfoy, Monsieur Zabini, what a pleasure to have you here," a wizard with a long tail of purple beard greeted them.

He led them to a brown-leathered booth with a single rose place in a vase as the centrepiece and handed them four menus and waited patiently for their orders.

As the waiter covered their table with dishes that they ordered – lasagne, falafel, ravioli, sausages and chips (sure to hit some acidity in several stomachs) – Draco decided to go on with the plan. _No more nonsense pseudo-feelings,_ he thought, feeling cross at himself; at how easily he let go of his guard.

Hermione wrinkled her nose at the feast set on their table. "None of the dishes go with each other," she remarked.

"That's the beauty of it all, Granger dear," Blaise said, piling lasagne onto his plate that was already filled with falafels and sausages.

"Well it sure beats the food served at Hog's Head," Ginny said enjoying her ravioli and chips, not daring to touch the sausages.

"I hate Hog's Head," Hermione said suddenly. "Finally, something I remember."

Draco's heart pounded fast. No matter how insignificant, Hermione was starting to remember bits and pieces of her past. He forced himself not to care. That this was just all part of the master plan he had in store for her to hate him even more. But somehow, that thought was not quite as consoling as he hoped it to be.

Ginny filled each of their champagne glasses with the most expensive champagne on the list and called for a toast, lifting her glass.

Hermione and Blaise followed suit, as did Draco and clinked their glasses together.


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

After they finished up on their desserts (ice cream cake and lattes for the ladies and baklava and cappuccinos for the men), Hermione and Ginny left the table to go the lav.

"They'll probably be gone for an hour," Blaise guessed, "Girls always are."

Draco nodded silently, still deep in his thoughts.

"What do they do there anyway? Trade feminine secrets? Or talk about us behind our backs? Knowing Ginny, they probably are. Not that she can say much, what with all the threats you bombarded her with." He fell silent, waiting for Draco to respond with his ever sexist thoughts on the subject.

He looked up from the paisley design on the tablecloth, startled. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Wow, you have to put yourself together mate, I've never seen you act this way before. Is this still a way of humiliating her for you, or is it something else? Because you've changed – not in a bad way really, actually maybe Granger may have a rather good influence on you, but I don't think your father would be too pleased."

That sentence put his attention right on track. "What about you and that blood-traitor, Weasley girl eh? Things look to be cosy between the both of you."

Ah-hah!" Blaise said with a look of triumph dancing in his eyes, as though he caught Draco doing something wrong red-handed. "Something _has _changed, you didn't deny anything against her. Don't worry, it'll work out."

Draco glared at him. "Nothing will work out, because there is nothing going on. Besides, you haven't denied anything either. Hoping you and Weasley will get together?"

His friend shrugged flippantly. "Maybe. But then again, my parents aren't Death Eaters so taunting me on my non-existent relationship with Ginny doesn't really affect me much. Truth be told, I like her a lot."

Draco sighed.

"You on the other hand," Blaise tutted. "You better strategise what you're planning to do. If you like her, maybe it'll work out, you'll never know. If not, then, I don't know what's keeping your head up in the clouds."

"How could it possibly work out?" Draco asked, resigned that his childhood friend knew him too well. Admitting to Blaise that he might have something for the muggle-born witch was just as well admitting it to himself. _Pathetic_, he thought sourly.

"Just give it some time. What's that famous line, love will find a way?" Blaise said with a smirk that well matched Draco's own, he knew it would irk his friend to the bone.

--

After lunch, they all retreated back to Manor by way of carriage. Draco agreed walking over to the restaurant, but he'll be damned if he had to walk back home on a full stomach. That was just unthinkable.

Blaise entertained Ginny with a game of Exploding Snap in the gazebo out in the garden, leaving Hermione and Draco on their own. Blaise thought this wise, knowing that Draco could use some time alone with her to sort his feeling out. He didn't really understand the concept of pureblood superiority and didn't believe in the same values as his friend, but nevertheless went on with the plan. Draco practically coerced him into it and let's face it, they were fourteen years old: the ripe age of peer pressure. He had to go along with it. Being Slytherin, he understood the cunning ways of Draco Malfoy and agreed that this could indeed turn out to be quite spectacle. But he merely saw it as a game and hoped that no one would end up hurt. Well, not too drastically hurt anyway as hurt (not to mention betrayal) would be inevitable.

Draco on the other hand, aimed for someone ending up hurt at the end of the charade. He just didn't expect that that somebody would be him.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Hermione asked him, a soft smile playing on her lips, hoping that kisses somewhere in between would come up in the itinerary.

"I don't think I gave you a proper tour yet of the house, have I?" Draco asked in return. Knowing the answer to his question full well, he took hold of Hermione's hand and led her to different parts of the house. The conservatory on the ground floor, his mother's study next to the conservatory, the vast expanse of the terrace at the back of the house, the ballroom on the first floor of the west wing wherein they had to climb a huge white staircase coated with a rich blood red carpet, the game room in the second floor that hoarded all sorts of entertainment ever imaginable (yet again climbing another grand white staircase with the same plush carpeting) and the mini-museum on the same floor.

"This is more mine than any other room in the house," Draco said walking across the shiny, just-polished pine floor.

"How so?" Hermione asked, going around the room as well, marvelling at the foreign object enclosed in a glass container. "This is gorgeous," she breathed out.

"Isn't it?" he said after taking a look at what she was inspecting. "It's a staff of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, circa 200 AD. I'm afraid I forgot his name. And to answer your question, everything in here is my personal collection of all the souvenirs and knick knacks I pick up in every trip I go to around the world. I have a thing about history and try to pick up anything that tells a story, be it an object aged a thousand years or a mere five minutes."

"Interesting," she said, mirth in her eyes. "How could an object born in this world for only five minutes be historical to you?"

"Easy," he said and stepped in front of her, and invading her (what most people would like to call) personal space. He pulled out a Smorgasbord table napkin that had the Smorgasbord crest on one side and a lipstick stain on the centre and showed it to her. "You see, this piece of paper may have been produced from a factory only days go, from a tree that was planted years ago, but to me, the significance of this object began just ten minutes ago. Starting the moment you used it to wipe the corner of your mouth."

Hermione glowed, a sense of warmth soaring though her body and a smile threatening to come out of her lips but instead she arched her eyebrow inquisitively. "Ten minutes, not five minutes. Hm. And as you said, that piece of paper was produced from a tree that may have been planted years and years ago. Technically, it isn't a five minute prodigy."

"No, it just is for me," he said in soft whisper and closed in on her.

Her heart pounded harder, feeling his body heat radiating and transferring to her body. She closed her eyes, thinking his lips may fall on hers again only to be disappointed when he placed a quick perfunctory kiss on her forehead and pulled her hand, leading the way back out the room.

"Come, I saved the best room for last," he said, leading her far down the hallway towards a narrow door at the very end that Hermione didn't notice to be a door until Draco tapped on it twice, paused, and tapped another three times. The door slowly slid to one side allowing them entrance to a ridiculously large room with several chairs and pillows and desks off to one side and columns and rows of shelves stacked with a variety of thick and thin books of every colour. The walls weren't walls but shelves as well that stretched from floor to ceiling.

"Wow," she breathed out upon taking in the entirety of the room, twirling in a circle to do so. "This is – wow."

"It's the Malfoy Library, it houses a collection of different books, magazines, journals and articles ranging from fiction to medicinal to historical to legal and every other genre would be here and every book ever produced in the face of the earth - in both the wizarding and non-wizarding world – can be found here. Even the most hard to find, even manuscripts and rough drafts and unpublished works, they've managed to find their way here. Not really sure how though, come to think of it," Draco said, suddenly looking disturbed.

"It's… I have no words," Hermione gushed.

"That's a first," he said with a smirk. "I thought you'd appreciate this room."

"I do, it's unbelievably fantastic. I can just stay here for days… did I always have an inclination to books?"

"Inclination would be too mild of an adjective, obsessed is more like it," he said but was smiling widely, happy that she was happy. Pureblood supremacy be damned.

Hermione went to a random bookshelf and plucked out a huge hard leather bound books with Nursery Rhymes imprinted on the front. "Oh," she said gleefully, "I love nursery rhymes."

She opened the book and fingered its thick pages trying to look for something in particular. "There's this certain rhyme I my head… something about a doctor."

Draco just gave her a blank look. _What are doctors?_, he thought to himself.

"How does it go again? Oh… Ah, yes, Doctor Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain. He stepped on a puddle… something middle something something back there again. Oh I forgot how it goes."

He gave her a questioning look.

"Don't you know that nursery rhyme?" she asked him.

"Er, not in the least bit, no. I don't really know what doctors are either, if that's your next question. It must be a muggle thing."

"Muggle?" she asked, looking slightly confused. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, Ginny told me about that. Yes, it must be a muggle rhyme," she said and looked back at the nursery book she was holding and realising it was a wizard's Nursery Rhyme book and looked to be rather interesting. She sat on the floor (not bothering to make use of the number of chairs on the side of the room), oblivious to the fast beating of Draco's heart.

Another memory to piece back her past.

Things weren't boding well for him.


	10. Chapter 9

**Author's Notes: **first off, thanks to 'hey', the anonymous reviewer who pointed out that Draco wouldn't know what paracetamol is even if it hit him straight in the eye. I've made changes to the chapter and will definitely be more careful this time. To **Elven at Heart **who suggested that Hermione be made aware of the charade Draco's keeping and to actually like him back, I've been thinking about it and it could work. I'll see how I can fit it in to the story. : ) Lastly, hope you guys like this chapter. Leave a review if you please, it's a huge motivator for me to kick my bahookie into work and update quicker. : )

On to the story!

**Chapter Nine**

Draco was not happy. He couldn't sleep and it wasn't for the lack of trying. No spell or potion could put him to sleep (he didn't want to use advanced magic as he wasn't well-trained yet and with all the idiotic things he's done the past few days, it wouldn't surprise him if he ended up killing himself in the process). He had no idea what possessed him to take Hermione in and plot revenge on her. The plan was backfiring against him. He should've just left her lying on the cold floor in the train station. Someone else could've found her and brought her back to safety, maybe even contacted her parents. But oh no, he just had to bring her home and go ahead and foolishly let himself care for her. His parents won't take this lightly. And neither would Hermione, once she regains her memory.

There had to be a way out. Maybe he could cover her head with a black pillowcase, like what they did to Ginny, and bring her somewhere and leave her there.

_Ugh, who am I kidding? If I couldn't leave her back at the station, I definitely couldn't leave her now, _he thought with a frown. _I might as well have been sorted into Hufflepuff, being the spineless sod that I am._

He threw the covers off his body and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom where Blaise was sleeping (he had Blaise stay over as well as Ginny listened to him more that she did Draco, it was just easier that way) and entered without bothering to knock. It was his house anyway; he figured he didn't need to.

"Zabini, wake up," he said, prodding the stiff Italian boy's body to come alive.

Blaise mumbled something he couldn't make out, slapped his hand away and turned over to his side and snored away.

"Lazy git," he muttered under his breath and tried to wake him up again. "Zabini –"

His friend rolled to his other side again and raised a fist, hitting Draco hard on the face.

"Ow! That hurt, wake –"

At that moment, Blaise sat up straight and looked alert with a huge grin on his face. "What can I do you for at this unholy hour Malfoy?"

"Have you been awake all this time?" he said with a withering glance.

"Well, no. It's two in the morning, what kind of moron would be awake at two in the morning on a bloody Sunday? Except you of course. No, I woke up a little while ago when you were poking me in my ribs. I tickle easily."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Come on, I need to speak with you."

"No."

"No?"

"No. What don't you understand? You drag me here in your house for what I thought would last for just a short period of time that turned out to be a weeklong sentence, or maybe even longer, and not once did I complain. But I am a Zabini, I like my rest. I _need_ my rest or I get cranky. Whatever it is you have to say can wait for a few more hours when the sun shows its rays."

"You sound too articulate for someone still half-asleep."

He smirked. "I know. It's one of my gifts. It's an advantage during emergencies. Now go back to sleep, we'll chat like pretty little girls later."

"No, I need to speak with you _now_," he said, pulling Blaise by the arm outside the room and to the kitchens.

"Alright already."

--

-_In the kitchens_-

Blaise sat on a stool, his head laying flat on the table. "You dragged me here, might as well start talking."

"Erm," Draco started, not knowing how to start.

"Now is not the time to be stammering, you're wasting precious seconds that I could spend with my eyes closed and my head on a nice warm pillow."

"Alright, well you see…"

"Yes?"

"It's like this…"

"What?"

"Err.."

"Spit it out Malfoy or I'll cut your tongue off."

"Argh! Never mind. Forget I brought you here."

"No," Blaise said and used his wand to freeze Draco into place.

"You love that word don't you?"

"Happens to be the first word I ever uttered. Now you woke me up for a reason, but seeing as you've suddenly become extremely shy and very uncharacteristically so, I'll do the talking as not to waste time."

Blaise walked over to Draco and stood in front of him looking very much awake.

"You like Granger and now you're scared of losing her once this whole farce comes to an end, yeah?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Clever," he said sarcastically.

"I really don't understand why you had to do it in the first place but since there's no more taking back time – unless you manage to find yourself a Time Turner – I suggest you try to romance Granger. That way, when she finds out what happens, she won't be too angry at you."

"Or she'd be angrier at me for having made her believe we're a couple and led her to fall in love with me."

Blaise thought it over. "A possibility. One of two, so that cuts your losses to fifty percent. Why not take the chance? And when all else fails, the Ministry has loads of Time Turners, you might want to get your hands on one just in case."

Draco pondered over the idea. It didn't sound too bad and with his connections (or rather, his _father's _connections); it wouldn't be too hard to take several into possession.

"Or, you could always go ahead and Obliviate her and make her forget everything. It'd solve your problems," Blaise said with a grin.

"And what exactly do I do with her after I Obliviate her? Send her back to her parents? I don't exactly know where they are – speaking of which, I have to remember to owl them first thing in the morning."

"I don't know, this all started with your brainless idea," Baise said, rolling his eyes. "I don't know what possessed you to do it, but I think this is one of the most ridiculous ones you've ever come up with. Nevertheless," he continued hastily after Draco growled ferociously and sent him a death glare that would make Lucius Malfoy proud, "it's not the end of the world. You could always resort to Time Turners if all goes awry but in the meantime, why not try to win her trust? Might as well make the most of her shattered memories, you know what I mean?"

"Yeah… could be. Sure, I can win her trust. I'm easily the most charming person in the world -" he said.

Blaise emitted a guffaw but tried to suppress it and Draco sent him another silencing look. "Alright already loverboy," he said instead. "You've got it all mapped out now, I suppose I can go back to sleep now, yes?"

"Yeah. Just one more thing."

Blaise sighed and turned around once more, leaning against the side of the door. "What?"

"Lift this freezing charm off me."

With a chuckle, Blaise walked out the room leaving his friend stranded, having to yell for help from his house-elves.

--

Dining room? No.

Parlour? No.

Conservatory? No.

Veranda? No.

Stables? Of course not.

And the Weaselette was nowhere to be found as well (Blaise was poolside being waited on by several house-elves, some were fanning him with massive peacock-feathered fans and not a spot of red hair to be seen). They had to be in the library.

He walked up the flight of stairs, tapped on the library doors and found them sitting on the chairs by the window and next to the fireplace (turned off – it was still the summer holidays after all). Engrossed with the book they were pouring over, neither one noticed him enter the room.

"Oh... I know this!" Hermione exclaimed, pointing at a page of the book they were perusing. "It's one of my favourites… I think."

Ginny looked over at the page she was pointing to. "That's a bit odd, don't you think? Why would a black bird peck off some poor old lady's nose?"

Hermione laughed and shrugged. "Nursery rhymes are supposed to be weird, maybe. Remember that rock-a-bye baby rhyme? That was a bit morbid."

"Yeah, you'll never find a wizard nursery rhyme that morbid, especially since we recite it to children -"

"I think the whole point of it all is just for it to rhyme. Though don't ask me about the whys," Draco said, interrupting their conversation.

Upon seeing him, Hermione broke out into a huge smile, completely forgetting the book before her.

"Ginny, may I have a word with you for a moment? In private?" he asked, trying to keep his blood pressure from rising.

"Er, sure," she said, standing up and leaving Hermione to go back to the book once more.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he hissed at her the moment they were out of Hermione's hearing.

"Hm.. let me see, I believe some people would call it reading," Ginny answered sarcastically. "Or am I not allowed that as well?"

"You're allowed to do whatsoever you please, just no reading of muggle nursery rhymes," he said almost hysterically.

She arched an eyebrow. 'Because… it could potentially lead to cancer?"

"No," Draco almost yelled out in frustration, trying to keep his hands from reaching his head and pulling a few strands of hair out. "Because… well…"

"What? And don't say because you said so as that is the most unreasonable answer you could ever give!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"Well? Answer me," she persisted but did as he asked and lowered her voice a notch.

Draco looked down and sighed, not wanting to look the girl in the eye. "Because it could bring her memory back."


End file.
